Saturday, September 17, 2011

To the Bondi Beach

I need two hands at least to count the number of times we have been to Bondi Beach and it is nearly always the same. Train to Bondi Junction, then bus to the beach. I have long argued that the train should continue to Bondi Beach. The bus from the Junction to the Beach is crowded and a very unpleasant trip and it doesn't seem to matter how many buses are put on, they are still crowded, worse if you cop one without airconditioning. Local Bondi Beach residents don't want the train if they have cars. They argue that a train service will bring more hoards to the beach, and they are probably right. Bus using residents though I would surely welcome a train service as the trip is just as miserable for them as it is we tourists. Why not extend the train to the Beach and then swing it down south to service Bronte, Clovelly and Coogee? This would take pressure off Bondi Beach.

Anyway, I was comparing an old map of Sydney when trams ruled and travelled along Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, now a mall, to a current map. I was struggling to make sense of anything.

Then I realised that for many years, I have had my Bondi Junction head space, for want of better words, arse about. I have always thought when you exit Bondi Junction station to Oxford Street Mall, you walk north along a laneway straight into the mall, but no, the station is to the north of Oxford Street, so you must head south. This means that when I was in Oxford Street Mall, the direction I thought the beach was wrong and the city also. And, the buses going to Bondi Beach exit the station in an easterly direction, rather than a westerly direction, which makes sense, or does it.

Unfortunately google street view doesn't show the mall and now I am just left in a confused state. Help!

This happened to me in Ueno, Tokyo and once something like the direction of north is planted in your head, it is very difficult to shake. You can logically think about it and work it out, but the map planted in your head for instant recall is wrong.

1905 was the big year for the new Bondi tourist tram line. And the timing could not have been better.The Bondi surf life saving club opened one year later, by which time bathing restrictions had thankfully been removed. The tram was always packed out!

So why oh why did they close down this vital tram service in 1960? Stupid people! The only thing we have left is the expression "to shoot through like a Bondi tram".

All good thoughts: but the trouble with extending the train from Bondi Junction to Bondi Beach is that Bondi Beach is always going to be a terminus: nowhere else to go when you get here, and heading along the ups & downs of the coast won't work. So it's probably best to have any new train turning south from Bondi Junction, to UNSW etc... But then there's now talk of a tram doing this, directly from the city.

Thanks Anon. I guess it is all about available land, although trains can go underground, as some of the Eastern Subs railway does. That was my thought, for the train to go south and service beach side suburbs using underground. I've been getting UNSW mixed up with University of Sydney. A tram to both would be good.

Anon; an existing bus service (Route 380) to North Bondi, (effectively to Bondi Beach which is the second last stop) extends up the coast on selected services to Dover Heights and even further to Watsons Bay. A train service which mirrors that extended bus route could take a lot of pressure off road traffic.

My public diary, not my private one. I live in a highrise apartment building in inner Melbourne. My interests are varied but top of the list are old buildings, history and public transport. You will find plenty of personal experiences to read in my blog too. Just be aware I am not an historian, amateur or otherwise. While I make some effort to be accurate, I don't do proper methodical research so I advise you check all details on your own behalf should you wish to quote me. Your comments are very welcome, but try to be nice to my fragile yet overblown ego. I enjoy receiving email. You can find my eddress in my complete profile.